Finnish police pull accounts at Nordea due to offshore links

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s police unions say they will close their accounts at Nordea, the Nordic region’s largest bank, after a recent leak from a Panamanian law firm revealed that it had helped customers open offshore companies to avoid paying taxes.

The Finnish Police Federation says it cannot condone tax dodging because it “eats away at the very core of the welfare state.”

The police agency, which has more than 11,000 members, said in a brief statement Thursday, that if everyone paid their taxes in full the government would not have to make so many spending cuts, which have touched the budget for internal security.

Previously, three major political parties and the powerful transport workers’ union announced they would stop banking with Nordea because of its offshore connections.